Compression girdle with hamstring support system

ABSTRACT

A compression sport pant compliments the pelvic region and legs and supports the hamstring muscles of a wearer. A neoprene liner in the back of a leg portion and in contact with the associated leg of the wearer holds natural body heat next to the wearer&#39;s skin. A stretchable, relatively wide strap is wrapped around the leg portion over the liner when the garment is worn to apply additional support to the hamstring area.

This invention relates to improvements in compression support pants orshorts and, in particular, to a compression garment that keeps thehamstring muscle warm by holding natural body heat next to the skin.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The compression girdle is a widely used and accepted garment for activeindividuals and athletes engaged in diverse physical activities such asbicycling, hiking, track and field events, basketball and football. Oneexample of this type of garment is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,257which discloses a sport pant in the form of a knee-length footballgirdle made from a highly resilient fabric comprising, for example, ablend of 75% nylon and 25% Lycra® (Dupont registered trademark). Thisfabric provides a four-way stretch with the desired compressioncharacteristics for effective support of the underlying muscles of thewearer. Sport garments of this type are available in both short stylesand full-length pants.

Although the compression girdle effectively supports the user'shamstring muscles, it does not, of itself, materially prevent body heatfrom escaping from the hamstring muscles at the back of the legs of thewearer. Therefore, the user relies upon outer garments for thisfunction. Light-weight outer garments, often worn, provide littleresistance to the escape of natural body heat from the hamstring musclearea.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an embodiment of the present invention the aforementioned problem isaddressed by providing a compression sport pant shaped to compliment thepelvic region and legs and support the hamstring muscles of a wearer.Downwardly extending leg portions of the garment receive the legs of thewearer, and a neoprene liner in the back of each of the leg portionscontacts the leg of the wearer when the garment is worn and thus holdsnatural body heat next to the wearer's skin. To apply additional supportto the hamstring area, a stretchable, relatively wide strap is wrappedaround the leg portion over the liner when the garment is worn.

In another aspect of the invention, means is provided on an outersurface of the pant at a rear portion thereof to secure the strap in afixed position. The securing means may comprise a strip of hook or loopmaterial extending upwardly to a buttock region of the garment to holdthe strap in the fixed position.

Another aspect of the present invention is that a tendency of thestretchable straps to drop down in front to a low position when thewearer is active is prevented as means is provided on the front of thepant which engages the straps and holds them in place when the garmentis worn.

Other advantages of this invention will become apparent from thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, anembodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a frontal and left side view illustrating the support garmentof the present invention on a wearer and shows a stretchable supportstrap wrapped around and secured to the right leg, the left leg beingshown without a strap to reveal a piece of hook material attached to theleg for securing the strap (when applied) in a fixed position.

FIG. 2 is perspective view of the rear and left side of the garment asworn, the support strap for the left leg also being removed as in FIG. 1to show the position of the neoprene liner on the inside of the leg anda vertically extending strip of hook material on the rear of the garmet.

FIG. 3 is a frontal view of the garment showing parts broken away andremoved to reveal the right and left neoprene liners and details ofconstruction.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the garment showing the left leg with thesupport strap removed therefrom and the right leg with the support strappartially removed.

FIG. 5 is a detail view showing the layers at the rear of the garmentand arrows indicating the retention of body heat at the hamstringmuscles.

FIG. 6 illustrates the application of the support strap to the rightleg.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring initially to FIGS. 1-3, the compression support pant of thepresent invention is shown in place on the body of the wearer. Thegarment has three sections stitched together at spaced seams 10 and 12,such sections including a right leg section 14, a center or crotchsection 16, and a left leg section 18. The seams 10 and 12 extend fromthe front of a waistband 20 down under the crotch and up to the back ofthe waistband 20 as seen in the rear view of FIG. 4. The particularsupport pant illustrated is a knee-length girdle style, it beingappreciated that the present invention is equally applicable to afull-length pant.

The leg and crotch sections 14, 16 and 18 are made from a highlyresilient fabric, preferably a blend of 75% nylon and 25% Lycra® havinga rating of approximately 280 denier. This provides a fabric havingfour-way stretch ability and thus the compression characteristicsdesired for effective compression support of the underlying muscles ofthe wearer, as set forth, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,257. Inthe present invention, a hamstring support system is provided andincludes a substantially rectangular neoprene liner in the back of eachleg of the compression short, the liner 22 for the left leg beingpartially shown in broken lines in FIG. 2 and revealed in FIG. 3 wherethe fabric is broken away. The liner 22 is secured by a peripheral lineof stitching 24 which is continuous along the top, bottom and side edgesof the liner 22, the inside edge thereof being hidden from view. Anidentical neoprene liner 26 is secured by peripheral stitching to theinside, back surface of the right leg section 14 as is shown in FIGS. 2and 3.

In addition to the neoprene liners 22 and 26, the hamstring supportsystem includes a pair of detachable straps 28 for the respective legs,shown in place on the right leg in FIGS. 1 and 2, the strap 28 on theleft leg being omitted from the figures in order to reveal other aspectsof the present invention set forth below. In FIG. 3 the right strap 28is shown released and open at the front to reveal a relatively small,rectangular piece of Velcro® hook material 30 sewn on the leg section 14which, when the strap 28 is in place as shown in FIG. 1, engages andholds the strap 28 against downward movement at the front of the garmentwhich might otherwise occur when the pant is worn.

An elongated, vertically extending strip 32 of elasticated loop materialis secured to the outside of each of the leg sections 14 and 18 at therear thereof from the buttock portion down to near the bottom of eachleg for the purpose of positioning and holding the strap 28 on each legin place and preclude downward shifting at the rear when worn by anactive individual. This assures that the straps 28 will not slipdownward and will continue to apply support to the hamstring area of thewearer at the desired position. Application of the strap 28 to the rightleg is illustrated in FIG. 6 where it may be appreciated that the strapis stretched tightly as it is wrapped around the leg and thus appliesthe additional support. The strap 28 is provided with a strip of hookmaterial 34 at each end thereof which, once the strap 28 is stretched tothe extent desired by the wearer, engages the loop material of the strap28 to tightly secure the strap 28 in place. It will be appreciated thatthe straps 28 enable the girdle of the present invention to accommodatethe leg size of the wearer and thus provide the hamstring support.

The action of the hamstring support system of the present invention isillustrated in FIG. 5 for the left leg section 18. The arrows 36represent body heat at the hamstring muscles which, in the absence ofthe support system of the present invention, would readily escapethrough the material and the rear of the leg sections 14 and 18.However, the neoprene liner 22 (or liner 26, right leg) preventssubstantial heat escape as illustrated by the arrows 38 and thus bodyheat does not escape, or is minimized, and the hamstring muscles staywarm as the natural body heat is held next to the skin. For maximum heatretention, each of the neoprene liners should have a thickness of atleast one-sixteenth of an inch.

Furthermore, in the present invention the neoprene liners 22, 26 and thestrap 28 on each leg cooperate to assure maximum heat retention as bothare held in place in overlying relationship to the user's hamstringmuscles. The straps 28 apply additional support to the hamstring areaand thus maintain a continuous amount of consistent pressure on thehamstring muscles. The pieces 30 of hook material and the strips 32 holdthe straps 28 to prevent downward shifting during athletic activity.

It is to be understood that while certain forms of this invention havebeen illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto, exceptinsofar as such limitations are included in the following claims.

1. A hamstring support garment comprising: a compression sport pantshaped to compliment the pelvic region and legs and support thehamstring muscles of a wearer, and presenting a pair of downwardlyextending leg portions for receiving the legs of a wearer, a neopreneliner in the back of at least one of said leg portions and in contactwith the associated leg of the wearer when the garment is worn, wherebyto hold natural body heat next to the wearer's skin, and a stretchable,relatively wide strap wrapped around said one leg portion over the linerwhen the garment is worn to apply additional support to the hamstringarea of the wearer.
 2. The support garment as claimed in claim 1,further comprising means on an outer surface of said pant at a rearportion thereof for securing the strap wrapped thereon in a fixedposition.
 3. The support garment as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising a strip of material secured to said one leg portion andextending upwardly to a buttock region of the garment, said strippresenting a first mating portion of a hook and loop fastener and saidstrap presenting a second mating portion of said fastener, whereby saidstrap is secured in a desired fixed position.
 4. The support garment asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising means on an outer surface of saidpant at a front portion thereof for engaging said strap to hold thestrap in place when the garment is worn.
 5. The support gannet asclaimed in claim 4, wherein said means for engaging said strap comprisesa first mating portion of a hook and loop fastener, and said strapcomprises a second mating portion thereof.
 6. A hamstring supportgarment comprising: a compression sport pant shaped to compliment thepelvic region and legs and support the hamstring muscles of a wearer,and presenting a pair of downwardly extending leg portions for receivingthe legs of a wearer, and a neoprene liner in the back of each of saidleg portions in contact with the associated leg of the wearer when thegarment is worn and presenting top, bottom and side edges secured to therespective leg portion by an essentially continuous, peripheral line ofstitching, whereby to hold natural body heat next to the wearer's skin.7. The support garment is claimed in claim 6, further comprising a pairof stretchable, relatively wide straps wrapped around respective legportions over the liners when the garment is worn to apply additionalsupport to the hamstring area of the wearer, and two strips of materialsecured to respective leg portions and extending upwardly to a buttockregion of the garment, each of said strips presenting a first matingportion of a hook and loop fastener and said straps presenting a secondmating portion of said fastener, whereby the straps are secured in afixed positions to preclude downward shifting when the garment is worn.